Skywarn Weather Spotter Training – November 28th

Snohomish County Emergency Management is hosting a National Weather Service Skywarn Weather Spotter Training event on November 28^th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The training will be conducted virtually by National Weather Service staff from the Seattle Forecast Office.

To register, visit this link.

There are over 350,000 volunteers in the Skywarn Weather Spotter program across the nation. They provide ‘ground truth’ regarding event-driven significant weather to the National Weather Service that is used in the weather warning program. Skywarn Spotters report on all kinds of hazardous weather including heavy rain, flooding, landslides, strong damaging winds, hail, snowfall, tornadoes, funnel clouds, wall clouds, and more.

Anyone can be a Skywarn Weather Spotter. Weather enthusiasts, school students, amateur radio, those who have responsibility to protect others such as health care, law enforcement, fire, utilities, and many more can become a Weather Spotter.

The Skywarn Weather Spotter program began in the 1950’s. Weather technology has greatly evolved since then including Doppler weather radar, weather satellites, automated weather observations, and more. Yet Weather Spotters help provide that ground truth to these technologies and help fill data gaps on what is really happening in neighborhoods.

The training includes what hazardous weather to report, how to report it, and answers questions about what is being observed. Just a minimum of your eyes and a phone is all the equipment that is needed, though use of weather instrumentation can help. With proper training, Skywarn Spotters contribute to the safety of their communities and at the same time, have fun!

Again, register for this Skywarn Weather Spotter training on November 28^th at this link. For additional questions, contact [email protected].